Chapter 22

L ila hugged Wren a final time before watching her walk through the automatic doors leading to the airport terminal. They'd made the most of their time together, managing to have fun while still studying for and taking their finals. And they'd been able to make the trip to see the Bradley soccer players win the national championship, though she didn't exactly want to dwell on the fact that she'd had some pretty intense eye contact with King, which only served to remind her that she was nowhere near over him. The bastard looked particularly edible when muddy and soaking wet, much to her dismay.

When Wren had finally told Lila about what happened with Knight, Lila hugged her and reassured her that things would unfold the way they were supposed to. Knowing that Knight was hurting too, she snuck into his house and cleaned up his room while he was out taking a final. It was an absolute sty, and she felt awful that both of her best friends were feeling so wretched. She was optimistic, though, because there were some intense feelings happening. But she also knew that they both had stuff they needed to sort through and hoped that the time apart would be healing for them both.

Before pulling away from the curb, a text from Knight came in.

KNIGHT: Everything go okay with the big sendoff?

LILA: About to start driving. Calling you now.

She put her AirPods in and started the call before she pulled out into traffic. Knight answered on the first ring.

"Someone's excited to talk to me," Lila teased. "He who never actually talks on the phone."

Knight's laugh sounded almost back to normal. "Always, Li. How did everything go? She get off okay?"

"I mean, there was no getting off, but I did throw a vibrator into her suitcase."

"Who are you, and what did you do with Lila Alexander? All of a sudden you're making sex jokes and talking vibrators."

"What can I say? It's been an interesting and transformative year," Lila giggled. Then she sobered up. "She's okay, and I think this experience is going to be good for her. And, don't worry, I'll keep tabs on her address so you can send her snail mail."

"People still do that?"

"If they don't, they totally should," Lila asserted. "There's something wonderful about a handwritten missive. Letter writing is a lost art."

"Okay, now you're sounding more like the Lila I know and love."

"Glad I could come through for you, bro."

"Question."

"Answer."

He chuckled. "Have you found a place to live yet? Isn't your lease up in like a week?"

Lila's heart sank. For some weird reason, she had yet to find an apartment to rent for the spring/summer. A lot of her friends were graduating, and the few that weren't already had places secured. Which meant she might have to move home with her parents for three and a half months and commute to work and school, all while trying to find a place for the fall. Which was, needless to say, less than ideal.

"I'm going to take that contemplative silence as a no."

"Perceptive of you, Knight. Very perceptive. At this rate, I'll have to move home with my parents and be subjected to their well-meaning but wholly puritanical views on sex and dating. I'm also about 99 percent sure they'd give me a curfew, too."

"Sounds horrific."

"You have no idea."

"What if I told you I had a solution for you? A place to live with fun roommates and your own private room and semi-private bathroom."

"I'm listening."

"You should move in here," he said triumphantly. "Jaxon and Mark graduated, so their rooms are open. The rooms are already furnished, as you know, and the mattresses have already been swapped out and the place thoroughly decontaminated. Plus, you already know Bear, so you're two for three in the roommate department already."

She mulled it over. It wasn't the worst idea ever. Living with Knight would be fun. And Bear was super chill. Though she did have questions about the bathroom arrangement.

"Good points, all. But what about this whole shared bathroom situation? Like, I wouldn't be sharing with either you or Bear because you already share one, yes? So I'd have to share with some random guy?"

She cringed at the thought. She had three little brothers, after all. Falling into the toilet in the middle of the night because they forgot to put the seat back down? Not awesome.

"Yes, you are correct that you would have to share a bathroom with a dude, but he will be thoroughly vetted by me, so he won't be a creep. I'll also threaten to kick his ass if he leaves the toilet seat up. And, just so you know, there are both inside and outside locks on the bathroom doors. So you can lock it when you're inside the bathroom for privacy, and you can also lock your door from the inside of your room so no one can enter it from the bathroom."

That made her feel marginally better. If she could handle a house full of females during shark week and a naked roommate in lotus pose, she could handle sharing a bathroom with a guy. And the truth was, she didn't really have any other options at this point.

"You really think this is a good idea?" she asked, uncertain.

"I think it's one of the best ideas I've ever had. Plus, you can't beat the commute. You can move in today if you want. The other room will probably be vacant until fall semester starts anyway, because a lot of people go home for the summer."

Lila could only think of one reason why she'd refuse, and he lived across the street from Knight. But she was bound to see him at some point anyway, wasn't she? There was no avoiding it when they shared a best friend. She also wasn't positive he was still planning on living there anyway or that he would even be returning back to school. So Lila decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it.

"Okay, Knight. I'm in."

"This is going to be the best summer and senior year ever," Knight cheered.

"Junior year for me. But I guess senior year for me too, since I'm hellbent on graduating in three years."

"Genius pants."

"Says the guy with the eidetic memory."

"It has its positives and its negatives."

"Touché, my friend. Touché. All right, I'll pack my shit and be there later tonight."

"Need any help?"

"Nah, I don't have that much stuff. It shouldn't take me too long."

"Then I'll pick up the Ben and Jerry's and have it ready for you."

"See, this is why we're best friends. You get me."

"I really, really do."

They said their goodbyes, and Lila made her way back to her apartment. Vicky and Dani had already moved out, and so it was just her and Becky until the end of the week. She wrinkled her nose at the sight of Becky's white noise machine.

Definitely not going to miss those womb sounds, she thought with a smile as she packed up her stuff. The benefit of attending a university that required off campus housing to be furnished with, at the bare minimum, a bed, a dresser, and a desk, was that she had no heavy furniture to move. Just her clothes and toiletries and a few decorative items she'd added to her room and the apartment. It only took a few trips to her car, and then she was ready to go.

Not wanting to be a total jerk, she wrote Becky a little note as a way of saying goodbye, stuck it on the sound machine, and then drove over to her new place.